Sheet pulp container dryer, etc.



Sept. 9, 1947. L. M. WILEY SHEET PULP CONTAINEKDRYER, ETC.

ori inal Filed lay 27, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IE1.v 1

LEE M. W/LEX' Sept. 9, 1947. L. M..w|| EY SHEET PULP CONTAINER bRYER, Md.

2 sheets-sheet 2 Driginal Filed May 27, 1942 wwwnwww mnw 40 47 3mm LEE MW/Lcx.

Patented Se t. 9, 1947 snna'r CONTAINER DRYER, ETC.

' Lee M. Wiley, Marion, ma, assignor of one-third v to Julian T. Lett, and one-third to Reeley B.

Wiley, both'of Marion, ma

Original application May 2'1, 1942, Serial No.

a 44,671. Divided and this application Decembe: 1, 1943, Serial No. 512,412

This invention relates to the substantial'de- -hydration and final formation of deep seamless containers formed from flat fibrous sheet stock suitably dampened and/or impregnated, coated or the like. V

V The chief objector this invention is to reduce the number of finishing operations and operating 7 time over that initially and broadly-disclosed in co-pending application Serial No. 288,343, filed August 4, 1939, entitled, Sheet pulpcontainer I forming process and apparatus therefor, now

Patent No. 2,337,581 dated December 28, 1943, and specifically made a part hereof 'for so much as may be necessary for. an understanding of the .1 present invention.

As disclosed in said patent, paper sheet-stock is subjected to moisture and other liquid mashape, then fluted in blank ejection to a receiver mold and then initially molded. A modified form of blanking, creasing and preforming in a receiver mold is also disclosed in the copending application Serial No. 334,823 filed May .13, 1940, and entitled Process and apparatusfor forming seamless fibre stock containers, now Patent No. 2,296,889 dated September 29, 1942, and same is also made a part hereof. This partially formed Figs. 4 and are central section and end elevational views, respectively, of the parts shown in Fig. 3.

As initially stated herein, the blank stock prior to blanking has been subjected to conditioning that is the application of moisture, et cetera.

The resulting blank is then creased or fluted in a predetermined manner prior to reception by a receiver mold in which a large percentage of the moisture (free moisture) is pressure extruded, et cetera. The-conveyor mentioned, to which the receiver .molds discharge partially formed articles is indicated by the numeral i0 in Fig.- 1.

terials, then blanked to the required size and As distinguished from the prior ccpending disclosures, the upper run of the conveyor enters the oven ll through opening l2. This run then passes to sprocket l3 and then back and forth over successive sprockets I4 and I5 gradually rising in the oven. I

The oven includes a baiile plate I that terminates at I! so that run It lies above said baflle. Sprocket I9 above the plate l6 directs the conveyor to sprocket above another and offset article, formed as aforesaid, from which excess moisture, liquid, et cetera, has been mechanically expressed by pressure, is automatically discharged from the receiver mold to an article support on an endless conveyor having intermittent movement since the receiver mold is turret mounted and indexable from station to station.

For the purposes of this invention this disclosure starts with said endlessconv'eyor. Herein the samepasses through a two-stage dryer and then to a stufler device.

One chief feature of the present invention resides in the two-stage heater and article travel therein.

Other objects and features of the invention will be set forth more fully hereinafter.

The full nature of the invention will be under-' stood from theaccompanying drawings and the following description and claims:

In the drawings: V 1 Fig.1 is a somewhatdiagrammatic eievational side view of the heater, the subject matter of this invention and the immediate juxtapositioned portion of the article transfer device associated therewith. N

Fig. 2 is a similar top planview of'same. Fig. 3 is an elevational view oi a portion of the conveyor structure included in'the heater.

battle 2|. Baflle l6 forms alower and dehydrating chamber 22 which in the present instance, contains six runs of the conveyor l0.

Bafiles 2|. and I6 form 'a superposed preheat-- ing chamber 23 in which there are approximately three runs of the conveyor ill.

Chamber 23 is termed the preheating chamber becausethe heat in the first chamber is primarily for drying and warming the articles, whereas the heat in chamber 23 softens or melts the size, resin, etc., to insure flow thereof so that upon subsequent pressure solidification, etc., a substantially finished article results. Thus, heating in chamber 23 after drying in dehydrating chamber 22 is a prerequisite to final formation,

wherefore the heating step is termed preheating and chamber 23 the preheating chamber.

' throat 24 formed by bailles l6 and 2|.

- 'I'hes chambers 22' and 23 communicate by The preheating chamber is elongated and overhangs at 25 the dehydrating chamber at the discharge .end of the oven, such discharge passage being indicated at 25 in which is mounted sprockets 2B. The wall of the dehydrating chamber is extended upwardly at Illa forming abaiile in turn providing a throat 21 between the preheat ing chamber 23 and discharge passage 25. i

. Near the base of the oven II but outside of same and approximately below sprockets 26 are sprockets 28 adjacent opening 29 which is approximately opposite opening l2. The lower and return run of the conveyor III is indicated by 30 and herein passes from the oven II through opening l2 to the transfer station at the turret type former having the receiver molds before mentioned and not shown herein but shown in said applications aforesaid. Following article transfer to the conveyor Ill it and said articles enter the oven I l at opening l2 as aforesaid.

Preferably conveyor travel is intermittent to permit conveyor and receiver mold registration for article transfer during the turret dwell period during which one set of receiver molds receives and preforms the blank, another set pressure forms same, and another set discharges articles to conveyor l herein all as set forth in the first mentioned copending application.

It is to be understood the conveyor l0 diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 1 includes two spaced chains of sprocket link type suitably-connected together at. predetermined distances apart by transverse members 3lsee Fig. 2central part.

Referring now to Figs. 3 to 5, it will be noted tube 3| is tubular and spaced along the same are mushroom-like article supports having the head 32 and stem 33 rigid therewith. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, tube 3| is non-circular and a support base 34 is adjustably but rigidly mounted et cetera, suitably secured thereto.

on the tube by cap 35. A shank 36 is socketed at 31 to receive the lower end 331) of stem 33 shouldered at 33a. The socket is split at 31a and clamp bolt 31b rigidly secures the stem 33 in said socket.

It will be appreciated that support 3233 can be readily removed and replaced by another support whenever another type of article is fabricated. This is effected by loosening 31b. Also, it will be understood that by removing cap 35, the entire individual support can readily be removed without disturbing other supports or the conveyor. By loosening the caps 35 the supports on tube 3| can be readily adjusted thereon as desired or required with regard to' spacing between supports in transverse alignment.

,The immediate connection of the ends of tubular member 3| to the chains of the conveyor I0 is shown in Figs. 3vand 5. Herein the tubular element 38 has a center which is the center of a roller chain link. Mounted thereon is ball race 39 and mounted thereon is socket 40 having depending portion 4| which at its lower end is notched, or bifurcated as at 42 to nest or seat the adjacent end of tube 3|. A bolt 43 extends through registering apertures 3la in the seated end of the tube and is threaded into portion 4| at 43, portion 4| being relieved or recessed at Ma for bolt end reception.

From the foregoing it is noted that all mush- .room supports, of which there are seven, with the cross member 3! and end members 4! are one, rigid unit which swivels about the center of spaced members 38 of the sprocket chain conveyor Ill and upon races 39.

The comparative weights are such that the parts always assume a position, when not positively constrained,.such that heads 32 are always uppermost. This means the articles nested therein always are retained on the supports in conv eyor travel from the receiver mold transfer construction, control and operation. To facilitate access to the interior of the oven, which is required for sprocket, chain, et cetera inspection, repair and lubrication, doors or panels of suflicient size of detachable or hinge type, are provided whenever necessary or convenient. Same, however, for clearness are not herein illustrated. The oven likewise is of insulated character but such heat insulation is similarly not illustrated for like reasons. Preferably the oven is of skeleton frame type with insulation walls, Details 'of construction naturally are optional in character.

In Fig. 1 there is illustrated a plurality of heat supply ports 44 in the dehydrating chamber 22. Herein two are illustrated. The numeral 45 indicatesa plurality of exhaust ports and of like number. In the preheating chamber 23 a. plurality of heat supply ports 46 are provided. Herein two are shown.

For convenience the oven heat is supplied by air heated externally of the oven. Damper controls et cetera, are intentionally omitted for clearness. Sufiice to state, the external source of heat may be of electrical character as indicated at 41, although in certain applications the source of heat may be of other character such as by steam coils or gas or oil burning equipment.

The air heated in unit 48 is drawn from same by fan 49 and supplied to conduits 50 which connect to the supply ports 44 and 46. The fan draws this air through unit 48 from conduits 5| connecting at one end to unit 48 and at the opposite end to the discharge ports 45. Thus recirculation is effected reducing heat cost to a minimum.

For a better understanding of the foregoing portion of the invention, the following is set forth by way of example only and same is illustrative and not restrictive in character.

The conveyor I0 is endless and there will be about twice as many supports in the dehydrating chamber as there are supports in the preheating chamber at any one time and in the example illustrated. The temperature in the dehydrating chamber normally exceeds that in the preheating chamber. Controls, not illustrated, maintain chamber temperatures within predetermined desired temperature ranges.

Observe from Fig. 1 that the three associated stufling mechanism pairs of sprockets 54, 55 and 55 are so positioned relative rollers 26 and 28 that sprocket chain stretching in the oven is not required. This is because while sprockets 26 and 28 are in substantial vertical alignment, such alignment is not tangential to the sprockets 54 and 56 which are also vertically aligned. The ofi'setting between these alignments, see Fig. 1, therefore, permits sprockets 54, 55 and 56 to reciprocate as a unit upon support 51 and without chain stretching, as it were. cation is to present one transverse series of mushroom supports to one transverse series of receiver molds 62 upon an indexable turret 6!.

This application is a division of application Serial No. 444,671 filed May 27, 1942, Patent 2,377,392, entitled "Sheet pulp container forming process and apparatus therefor and same accordingly is made a part hereof.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in great detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character.

The several modifications described herein as Such reciprowell as others which will readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art, all are considered to be within the broad scope of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a forced circulation type oven structure having an endless article conveyor and a heating system, the combination of a pair of oven type. chambers, means providing communication therebetween at the adjacent ends bers, the conveyor successively passing through the chambers and intermediate communication means, means in each chamber insuring sinuous travel of the conveyor therethrough, heat supplying input means chambers, exhaust means at the adjacent ends of the chambers, and conduit means external to the chambers and connecting said intake and. exhaust means to the heating system for recirculation purposes, to and from the chambers being of multiple type.

2. An oven structure defined by claim 1 wherein a singular housing includes both chambers, and the communication providing means comprises baille means other from, opposite-ends of the housing and forming a throat spaced from the top, bottom of the chamat the remote ends of the the intake and exhaust meansgo extending towards each means for removing heat from the chambers, 40

one chamber being larger than the other and each having therein approximate portions of the conveyor proportional to the chamber volumes, the heat removing means being disposed adjacent the outlet portion of the larger chamber whereby the smaller chamber has a greater temperature therein than the larger chamber, and the chambers where they communicate one with the other have an approximate common temperature, temperature change in one chamber increasing with conveyor advance and in the other chamber decreasing with conveyor advance.

4. An oven structure as defined by claim' 3 wherein saidbaffle means comprises battles extending from opposite ends of the housing and forming a throat spaced from the top, bottom and ends of the housing, the inner ends of the baffles lapping each other although spaced apart for article and conveyor clearance purposes.

LEEM.WILEY.

REFERENCES, CITED UNITED STATES PATENT and ends of the housing, the exhaust means Number m D being disposed contiguousto the throat, 1, 83,397 Domizi May 4, 1926 3. A multiple chamber oven construction oo 18, 13 Buckley Feb. 22, 1927 prising in combination a singular housing, baf- 1,334,340 Collins 1 tie means therein forming a. plurality of o 1,651,871 Collins Dec. 6, 192'! municating chambers, each chamber having i 1,848,639 Maurel Mar. 8, 1932 let and outlet portions, an article supporting end- 2,130,246 01601115 81 9 1 8 ,less conveyor advanceable therethrough, mea s 1,890,681 Hoppe Dec. 13, 1932 to; causing bsaid conveyor to move sinuously in 1,592,799 Webster July 13, 1926 each cham r, means for supplying heat to the chambers at the inlet portions thereof, said heat FOREIGN PATENTS supplying means having a common source, and Number Country 1 Date 17,031 Great Britain 1889 the 

